Surgical instrument handle with adjustable actuator position

ABSTRACT

A surgical instrument handle operates a microsurgical instrument on a surgical instrument head by manipulation of the instrument handle. The instrument handle has an elongate center rod with a ring mounted on the rod for reciprocating movement. The ring is operatively associated with the surgical instrument head for operation of the microsurgical instrument of the head. A plurality of resilient arms extend along the length of the rod and engage against a sliding surface of the ring. The inward and outward movement of the plurality of arms reciprocates the ring on the handle rod to cause operation of the surgical instrument head.

This patent application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/846,382 which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,439,672on Sep. 13, 2016, and which is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/586,018, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,197,468on Jun. 12, 2012.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features of the invention are set forth in the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiment of the invention and in thefollowing drawing figures wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross section of the instrument handle of the invention;and,

FIG. 2 is a view of the disassembled component parts of the instrumenthandle of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The surgical instrument handle of the invention is employed withmicrosurgical instrument heads of the type disclosed in the U.S. Patentof Scheller et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,658, and the U.S. Patent ofGampp, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,877, both of which areincorporated herein by reference. The surgical instrument headsdisclosed in these patents have surgical instruments at their distalends that are actuated in response to reciprocating movement of headpistons at their proximal ends. The instrument handle of the inventionis designed to be attached to surgical instrument heads of the typedisclosed in the above referenced patents to actuate the surgicalinstruments of the instrument heads.

The instrument handle of the invention is manually actuated in a mannerto be described, to move a piston on the instrument handle that in turnmoves the head piston of the surgical instrument head attached to thehandle. In this way, the instrument handle of the invention actuates thesurgical instrument head of the type described in the above referencedpatents. In operation of the instrument handle of the invention, thehandle piston is moved against a spring-biased piston of the instrumenthead to produce a first stage of movement in the surgical instrument atthe distal end of the instrument head. The bias on the instrument headpiston against the piston of the instrument handle causes the surgicalinstrument at the instrument head distal end to move from its firststage of movement to its second stage of movement.

The surgical instrument handle of the invention is basically comprisedof an interior assembly and an exterior assembly. The interior assemblyincludes a cylindrical base 12, an elongate rod 14, a piston 16, a ring18, a piston stop 22, and a rear cap 24.

The cylindrical base 12 has a center axis with opposite proximal 26 anddistal 28 ends. External screw threading 32 is provided on the exteriorof the base adjacent the base proximal end 26. A center bore 34 extendsthrough the base. A pinhole 36 extends transversely through the base andintersects the center bore 34. Internal screw threading 37 is providedin the center bore 34 adjacent the base proximal end 26.

The elongate rod 14 has a center axis and opposite proximal 38 anddistal 42 ends. A pinhole 44 extends transversely through the rodproximal end 38. A surgical instrument head connector 46 having externalscrew threading is provided at the rod distal end 42. The instrumentconnector 46 hats an axial center bore 48. A piston slot 52 extendstransversely through the rod 14 and extends axially along the rod for ashort distance adjacent the instrument connector 46. The slot 52intersects the instrument connector center bore 48.

The piston 16 is received in the rod slot 52 for reciprocating axialmovement of the piston through the rod slot. The piston 16 has a pair oftransversely extending shoulders 54 intermediate the opposite proximal56 and distal 58 ends of the piston. The piston distal end 58 projectsfrom the pair of shoulders 54 through the center bore 48 of the rodinstrument connector 46.

The ring 18 is mounted on the rod 14 for axial sliding movement of thering. The ring has an annular cavity 62 recessed into a distal end face64 of the ring. The annular cavity 62 receives the piston shoulders 54to operatively connect the piston 16 with the ring 18. A proximal endface 66 of the ring 18 is formed as a conical sliding surface.

The piston stop 22 is cylindrical and has a center bore 68 that receivesthe elongate rod 14. The piston stop 22 is positioned adjacent the slot52 in the rod distal end. A set screw 72 is received in an internallythreaded hole 74 in the side of the piston stop 22 and engages with theelongate rod 14 to secure the piston stop in a desired position on therod. The position of the piston stop 22 on the rod 14 limits themovement of the piston 16 toward the rod proximal end 38.

The rear cap 24 is provided with an externally threaded shank 76 and acylindrical head 78. The screw threads on the rear cap shank 76 arescrewed into the internal screw threading 37 at the base proximal end 26closing the hollow interior of the base at its proximal end.

The exterior assembly of the surgical instrument handle is comprised ofa tubular forward grip member 82, a tubular rearward grip member 84, anda pin 86. The forward grip member 82 has a center bore 87 with a centeraxis extending through the length of the grip member. The bore 87extends from a proximal end 88 to a distal end 92 of the grip member. Apair of diametrically opposed elongate slots 94 are formed transverselythrough the forward grip member 82 adjacent the proximal end 88. Theslots 94 extend axially along a portion of the length of the forwardgrip member adjacent the proximal end 88. A portion of the forward gripmember interior bore surface 96 tapers radially outwardly as it extendsfrom the interior bore to the forward grip member distal end 92. Aplurality of axially extending slots 98 are formed in the forward gripmember 82 at the forward grip member distal end 92. The axial slots 98extend along the length of the forward grip member 82 from the distalend 92, but end short of the forward grip member proximal end 88. Theaxial slots 98 form a plurality of resilient arms 102 that arecircumferentially arranged around the interior bore 87 of the forwardgrip member.

The rearward grip member 84 is a cylindrical tube having oppositeproximal 104 and distal 106 ends. The exterior surface of the rearwardgrip member 84 is smooth. Internal screw threading 108 is providedinside the rearward grip member 84 adjacent the distal end 106. Theinternal screw threading 108 is complementary to the external screwthreading 32 of the base 12.

The surgical instrument handle is assembled by first positioning thepiston 16 in the slot 52 at the rod distal end 42. The ring 18 is thenpositioned over the rod and the piston shoulders 54 are received in thering annular cavity 62. The piston stop 22 is then positioned over therod adjacent the slot 52. The piston stop 22 is secured in its desiredposition adjacent the slot 52 by tightening the set screw 72 in the setscrew hole 74 of the stop. The elongate rod proximal end 38 is theninserted into the base center bore 34 at the base distal end 28. Thepinhole 44 of the rod is aligned with the pinhole 36 of the base.

The exterior assembly of the instrument handle is then assembled ontothe interior assembly. The forward grip member 82 is positioned over theelongate rod 14 and over the proximal end 26 of the base 12. The pinslots 94 of the forward grip member 82 are aligned with the base pinhole36 and the rod pinhole 44 and the pin 86 is inserted through the alignedholes and slots. This secures the rod 14 to the base 12, and mounts theforward grip member 82 to the rod and base for limited axial movement ofthe forward grip member 82 relative to the rod 14 and base 12.

The rearward grip member 84 is then mounted to the base 12 by screwthreading the internal screw threads 108 at the distal end 106 of therearward grip member onto the external screw threads 32 of the base. Therearward grip member 84 is screw threaded onto the base 12 until thedistal end 106 of the rearward grip member 84 engages against theproximal end 88 of the forward grip member 82. The rear cap 24 is thenscrew threaded into the internal screw threading 37 at the base proximalend 26. The head 78 of the rear cap prevents the rearward grip member 84from being removed from the instrument handle by screw threading therearward grip member 84 off of the base 12.

With the instrument assembled as shown in FIG. 1, it should beappreciated that manually compressing the distal ends 92 of the forwardgrip member 82 will exert a compressive force on the conical slidingsurface 66 of the ring 18. This will cause the ring 18 to move axiallytoward the rod distal end 42. This in turn causes the piston 16 to movethrough the piston slot 52 toward the rod distal end 42. This movementof the piston will actuate the surgical instrument of a surgicalinstrument head of the type described in the earlier referenced U.S.patents.

Releasing the manual compressive force on the distal end 92 of theforward grip member 82 will allow the piston 16 to move toward the rodproximal end 38 in response to the biasing force of the surgicalinstrument head attached to the instrument handle. This also results inmovement of the ring 18 toward the rod proximal end 38. As the ring 18moves the ring proximal end face 66 pushes the forward grip memberdistal ends 92 back to their original positions.

The novel construction of the instrument handle of the invention enablesthe radial spacing between the distal ends 92 of the forward grip memberarms 102 to be adjusted to the desired comfort of the user. Turning therearward grip member 84 in a first, clockwise direction relative to theforward grip member 82 will cause the forward grip member 82 to moveaxially along the rod 14. The movement of the forward grip member 82 isdetermined by the length of the axial slots 94 in the forward gripmember 82. Movement of the forward grip member distal end 92 toward therod distal end 42 will cause the distal ends 92 of the forward gripmember arms 102 to expand radially outwardly as they slide over the ringproximal end surface 66. Thus, this adjustably increases the radialspacing between diametrically opposite distal ends 92 of the forwardgrip member arms 102. Rotating the rearward grip member 84 in a second,counterclockwise direction relative to the forward grip member 82 willallow the forward grip member 82 to move axially toward the proximal end38 of the rod 14. This allows the distal ends 92 of the forward gripmember arms 102 to slide radially inwardly, over the ring proximal endsurface 66. This reduces the radial spacing between diametricallyopposite distal ends 92 of the forward grip member arms 102.

Thus, in the manner discussed above, the instrument handle of theinvention enables radially adjusting the width of the operative portionof the instrument handle adjacent the forward grip member distal ends 92to suit the comfort of the user.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been describedabove, it should be understood that other modifications and variationsmay be made to the invention without departing from the intended scopeof protection provided by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A surgical instrument handle comprising: anelongate rod having a center axis that defines mutually perpendicularaxial and radial directions, the rod having a length with axiallyopposite proximal and distal ends; a ring mounted on the rod for axiallyreciprocating sliding movement of the ring, the ring having oppositeproximal and distal end faces with the ring proximal end face facingtoward the rod proximal end and the ring distal end face facing towardthe rod distal end, at least a portion of the ring proximal end facebeing formed as a conical sliding surface; and a forward grip membermounted on the rod, the forward grip member having a plurality ofresilient arms that extend along the rod to distal ends of the arms areoperatively associated with the conical sliding surface whereby manuallycompressing the arm distal ends on the conical sliding surface radiallyinwardly moves the ring distally and releasing the manual compressionmoves the ring proximally and the conical sliding surface pushes the armdistal ends back to an original position.
 2. The surgical instrumenthandle of claim 1, further comprising: the forward grip member having aplurality of axially extending slots formed in the forward grip memberat a forward grip member distal end, the plurality of slots extendingfrom the forward grip member distal end toward a forward grip memberproximal end and ending short of the forward grip member proximal end,the plurality of slots forming the plurality of resilient arms betweenthe plurality of slots.